Category Archives: Information Resources

Today is the 100th anniversary of the March 30th, 1912 flood in Valley Nebraska.  This year we are experiencing  one of the warmest and driest months of March on record and drought is more to be feared than flooding.   But last year was a different story – mountain snowpack  and torrents of rain in Montana caused the Missouri River to flood.   The Valley flood a century ago is another reminder that March is indeed a lion and a lamb.  The winter of 1912 must have been much colder and longer than the one we have just experienced, because the large amount of ice still on the rivers formed  ice jams  and caused a very destructive flood.

Valley is located between the Platte  and the Elkhorn rivers.   The confluence of the two rivers is several miles south of the town.    This excerpt from the Norfolk weekly News-Journal, March 29, 1912, Page 8  describes conditions at Valley on Tuesday, March 26.

“A. T. Hutchinson of the A. L. Kulian Co. , returned last night from Valley , Neb. , where he attended a directors meeting of a seed house of which he is a director. Mr. Hutchinson reports that much fear is entertained at Valley and Waterloo over the flood stage of the Platte river which is thirty feet high at the narrowed channel at the Burlington  bridge at Fremont. The ice is thirty-six inches thick and a gorge is forming. Blasting has been going on for a week , but it is not believed that this will save the lowlands arount Valley from a flood. The Elkhorn river, says Mr. Hutchinson, is in good shape and he can see no danger of a flood in this vicinity.”

Valley Public Library has contributed a collection of photographs to Nebraska Memories depicting the town both before and after the flood.  This 1910 photo of  Reid’s Hotel  at the corner of Front and Pine streets shows a substantial two-story building flanked by trees and paved sidewalks.

Two years later, this March 30, 1912 photo   of the same  corner  shows that the flooding may have been even worse than Mr. Hutchinson’s comments to the newspaper suggested.     Water is lapping at the foot of the front porch of the hotel and several people are standing  on it surveying the flooded street.   There must have been a lot of damage to the ground floor of the hotel and all the buildings on those streets.   The photo description indicates that flood waters from the Platte and Elkhorn rivers merged and some areas were covered in four feet of muddy water.

This photo taken in April 1912 shows damage to a  wagon road    near the railroad tracks.   The road has eroded away and looks like a “gorge” such as Mr. Hutchinson told about.    As the flood waters recede,  undermined utility poles are falling  over.   The pole with the repair man perched on it  looks like it could topple into the water at any moment–not a place I would have wanted to be!    According to the photo description damages to the area were estimated at $40,000 – a hefty sum a century ago.

And how would you like to be the poor people living in these homes?  More photographs of the Valley flood of 1912  can be viewed in Nebraska Memories.

Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.

Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. NebraskaMemories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

As many of you may know 1940 is an important year to genealogists and historians right now. On April 2, 2012 at 9 AM EDT the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration will make the 1940 Census available to the public online. This is the first time the 1940 Census can be made available because of the 72-year rule. This rule basically states that the U.S. government cannot release personally identifiable information about a person until 72 years after it’s been collected.

As some of us anxiously wait for April 2 I thought it would be fun to look at the faces of people from 1940 as documented in Nebraska Memories. To start off the year it appears they had more snow in the early months of 1940 then we did this year. A photo from January 1940 shows a large group of children bundled in their winter coats sitting and in the back of a pickup truck on a snow covered road. Another photo from February shows a boy outside in his coat and hat shoveling snow.

Photos taken in March of 1940 give us a glimpse of the workers at the Falstaff Brewery. The brewery was located at 25th and Vinton in Omaha. In contrast to the brewery works dressed in overalls most of the business men of Bertrand and Loomis are pictured wearing ties with jackets or vests. According to the note this group of businessmen was on an outing to the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District. The 10th grade class of Bruno High School got their picture taken on April 30, 1940. The four young men in the class look dashing in their dark suites.

The latter half of 1940 appeared to be the time for fun just by looking at the photos in Nebraska Memories. I have no idea who George Turner was but it sure looks like he knew how to through a party. One photo from the party shows a number of party goers proudly holding up their mugs of beer. I have to wonder if it’s Falstaff beer. The party goers even had a mock shotgun wedding at the party.

The other fun event documented was Laurel and Hardy appearing in person at the Orpheum Theatre in October of 1940. I bet that would have been a fun show to attend.

 I hope you enjoyed looking at some of the faces of 1940 as you wait to view the 1940 Census. You can learn more about the 1940 Census by visiting the National Archives 1940 Census website. If you’ve never explored a historic U.S. Census Nebraskan’s have access to the 1790-1930 Census through the HeritageQuest Online databases. This database is made available at no cost to all Nebraskans through NebraskAccess.

Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.

Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

It recently came to my attention that March is Music in Our Schools Month, a month dedicated to advocacy in favor of music education programs in schools. If you explore Nebraska Memories, you can see many images of Nebraska’s students enjoying music in their schools.

Nebraska’s schools provided opportunities for vocal music, as shown in this photograph of the Irving Junior High boys choir in Lincoln. Students also had chances to participate in instrumental music, as shown by the North High School orchestra in Omaha or the band at the Girls’ Industrial School in Geneva.

The Polley Music Library collection also includes a number of programs from musical events featuring students. These events include such concerts as those sponsored by the Nebraska Music Teachers Association, as well as Nebraska All State musical concerts.

Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.

Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

If you traveled during the holiday season this year, perhaps your home-away-from-home was a hotel. Compare your experiences to these images of hotels from Nebraska Memories.

Hotels in Nebraska have ranged from imposing structures, like the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha or the Ruwe Hotel in Fremont, to smaller establishments, like Wilcox House in Papillion or the Talbot Hotel in Brainard.

Nebraska Memories features views of the interiors of hotels as well. Take a glimpse inside some hotel lobbies, like those at the Hotel Loyal in Omaha or the Perkins Hotel in David City.  Some hotels had places to eat inside, like the Vineyard Cafe at the Rome Hotel in Omaha, or the dining room at the Zeeck Hotel in Papillion.

If motels and motor courts are more your style, check out the Lone Pine Court and Filling Station or Sunnyside Cottages, both located in Sidney.

Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.

Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

I spent a bit of time over the holiday weekend telling family members to smile and say cheese. As usual some of them were more cooperative then others. The other day, as I was looking at the photos I took, I wondered if there were any interesting Christmas photos in Nebraska Memories and I’m happy to report I wasn’t disappointed. Here are a few of my favorites.

My favorite Christmas picture has to be the photo titled “Family by Christmas tree“. Unfortunately we don’t know the name of the family featured in this photo from the early 1900’s but the looks on their faces are priceless. As the description states none of the six people in the photo are looking in the same direction. In some ways it is a typical family photo however with two of the boys messing around, the third one facing the wrong direction and the fourth one looking very unhappy. Thankfully I don’t think any of my family photos turned out quite this bad. The lack of names on this photo however does serve as a good reminder. I need to take the time to add names to all of my family photos so a hundred plus years from now folks will know the names of everyone in the photo including the person who was making bunny ears.

I really have to admire the photographer, children and anyone who helped with this photo of the “Immanuel Children’s Home at Christmas“. Somehow they managed to get eight small children to sit facing the camera, have fairly happy looks on their faces, stop playing with their toys, and hold still long enough to snap a photo. I find that pretty impressive! It’s also a cute picture.

I also enjoyed looking at all of the Christmas trees in the different photos. Some of them are pretty scraggly compared to the artificial trees I’m used to seeing today. And finally what would a set of Christmas pictures be without a picture of Santa Claus with his sleigh and reindeer.

Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.

Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.